The Two-Way

12:41 pm

Tue May 28, 2013

Three Years In A Row, Australia Named Happiest Place By OECD

The sails of the Sydney Opera House are illuminated for the Vivid Sydney festival on May 24, in Sydney, Australia.

Cameron SpencerGetty Images

If you lived in Australia, you'd be much happier.

At least that's what you can glean from the latest Better Life Index issued by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which ranked Australia the world's happiest nation for a third year in a row.

Because we know you're wondering: The United States is ranked No. 6, behind Australia, Sweden, Canada, Norway and Switzerland.

"More than 73% of Australia's 23 million people aged 15 to 64 have a paid job, above the OECD average.

"Life expectancy is also higher, at almost 82 years.

"Australia's economy has had more than two decades of growth due to demand for its natural resources.The nation also managed to sidestep the worst of the financial crisis and was the only major developed nation to avoid the global recession in 2009."

Correction at noon ET, May 30: We mistakenly wrote earlier that "Australia and Portugal" offer the most paid vacation. But as the survey shows, we should have said Austria, not Australia. We've corrected the post above.